On April 15, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, signed into law amendments concerning the rights of women and the safety of children, marking a significant step in the nation’s legislative history. Since 2019, Kazakhstan has been actively implementing significant political and economic reforms, with this law representing another step forward in the country’s ongoing political modernization. These legal changes essentially signify the criminalization of domestic violence – a goal long aspired to by the Kazakh society – and are designed to enhance the legal, economic, social, institutional, and organizational frameworks for state policy on ensuring women’s rights and children’s safety. This move could have a profound impact on the human rights landscape in Central Asia, a region where such legal reforms are critically needed to address longstanding issues, as well as in the post-Soviet space in general.
This legislation marks the first introduction of innovative measures for safeguarding women and children in the Commonwealth of Independent States region. The new law has been commended by the international community. The United Nations Development Programme in Kazakhstan, for instance, has praised the legislative initiative as a crucial step towards achieving equality, justice, and safety for all citizens. Similarly, the European Union has welcomed the legislation as well, noting that it marks a significant advancement in legal protections. Additionally, the United States Embassy in Kazakhstan has also expressed support for the new law, reflecting a growing international embrace of Kazakhstan’s efforts to improve human rights within its borders.
Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, has been grappling with issues of gender-based violence, child abuse, and insufficient legal protections for vulnerable populations—a common trait shared by states in the region and beyond, many of which have shown no real dedication to advancing gender equality and the safety of women and children up to this day. Historically, the region has faced criticism from international human rights organizations for its lack of robust mechanisms to protect these groups. However, these specific changes, as well as Kazakhstan’s general dedication to promoting and prioritizing universal human rights, are fitting responses to such allegations. Kazakhstan strongly believes that advancing women rights and mechanisms to protect them from violence can unlock billions to its national GDP.
The new legislative norm introduces several significant changes. Firstly, criminal liability for minor health harm and battery, which was removed in 2017, has been reinstated. In cases of domestic violence that result in severe harm, the law now mandates stricter penalties, with sentences starting from eight years of imprisonment, effectively eliminating lesser punishments. Furthermore, there is no possibility of reconciliation for repeat offenders of domestic violence, a measure aimed at minimizing potential abuse towards victims. Additionally, severe crimes against minors will now carry a sentence of life imprisonment. Lastly, the legislation also criminalizes the sexual harassment of minors, reinforcing the protection of children under the law.
Additionally, the law expands the principles of family-marriage legislation, emphasizing traditional family values and enhancing the roles of local authorities in supporting families and individuals in challenging situations. Moreover, the legislation includes significant measures to ensure preventative action against bullying and abusive behavior in schools and universities—an issue even consolidated Western democracies struggle to address effectively. In other words, the new law does not solely focus on punishing domestic violence within the household, but rather aims to counter multiple sources of violent and abusive behavior aimed at children and women, regardless of the source. Instead of being purely punitive, the law also considers the wellbeing of the victims. For instance, those facing domestic violence can now stay at specific Family Support Centers for up to 30 days, during which their employer must provide them unconditional unpaid leave. Alongside dedicated contact centers, these new legal entities will offer substantial protection for those under the threat of domestic violence.
It is important to consider that in 2022 alone, 47,000 women and girls died worldwide from domestic violence and abuse. Thus, the severity of the punishments is necessary to overcome the quite archaic cultural norms towards domestic violence that proliferate in most post-Soviet space countries, including Central Asia.
The approval of these amendments marks a pivotal development for human rights in Kazakhstan for several reasons. Firstly, it will provide an enhanced degree of protection from physical and mental abuse for all women and children. By fortifying legal protections against violence and abuse, the law is expected to create a safer environment for these vulnerable groups, contributing to the development of a healthier nation.
Another important impact lies within the cultural realm. Reinforcing and prioritizing the security of women and children will inevitably help deter people from pursuing toxic and abusive patterns of behavior, fostering a much more stable foundation for mutual respect between genders. This might, in fact, become a crucial step towards advancing the values of gender equality and embedding them into the core of Kazakh cultural identity.
Finally, there is an important preventive impact and positive effects on general levels of violence in the country: the legal framework could act as a deterrent against potential offenders, thereby reducing the incidence of violence and abuse, while also targeting people prone to violence, as many of them tend to exhibit such dangerous behavior at home and later escalate to other violent crimes.
While the new legal norm is a big step in the right direction, there are still some challenges anticipated. For instance, any degree of successful implementation will require a significant portion of political will to have a meaningful impact in real life, especially in rural and less urbanized areas. Another common challenge in this regard is ensuring the universal nature of applicability of the new law, making sure that political and economic elites receive the same treatment as ordinary citizens. Despite all this, the government of Kazakhstan has already shown its dedication to combating domestic violence, and adopting a decisive legal norm is crucial in pursuing this ambitious goal.
Finally, this development carries an additional layer of importance, given the rapidly changing dynamics of regional politics in the post-Soviet space and the increasing degree of foreign policy autonomy of Central Asian countries, particularly Kazakhstan. It is noteworthy that Kazakhstan is pursuing this track while many of its neighbors, including those that can be qualified as “great powers,” are quite reluctant to advance universal human rights, often claiming that these values are “alien” to the traditional communities historically residing in these areas. In this regard, Kazakhstan is successfully exhibiting leadership and the ability to pursue its own agenda based on the needs of its people, rather than the political will from abroad.
[Photo by Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, via Wikimedia Commons]
Arkadiy Eremin is an Assistant Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Webster University. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
